PhillyIMC's top stories of 2010
by
PhillyIMC Staff | 01.12.2011
(10) PA "Terror Watch" Bulletins Tracked Activists Across State - Those 'Tracked' Included Long-Standing Peace Activist Group
The Brandywine Peace Community reported on the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response, a private firm that was hired to conduct surveillance on a number of citizen activist groups: "an anti-BP candlelight vigil, a gay and lesbian festival, and even a rally to support [PA Governor Ed] Rendell’s own campaign to increase spending on public education. The company also monitored opponents of drilling in the Marcellus Shale, noting their plans to attend public hearings and screen the documentary Gasland." They also surveilled "the taxpayers protesters," and "the Lesbian and Gay Pride Festival." Governor Rendell claimed that he wasn't aware of the surveillance, but he refused to fire Thomas Powers, the former Green Beret colonel who, as director of the PA Department of Homeland Security, arranged the $125,000 contract. link
(9) Domestic Terrorist-Philadelphia Police Brutalized brother Askia Sabur
Friends in Support of Askia Sabur reported on a person who received a severe beating from Philadelphia Police Officers from the 19th District. There was no apparent reason for the beating and plenty of witnesses. link
In "March to 19th Police District Demands Justice for Askia Sabur and an End to Domestic Terrorism," Bob Shipman of PhillyIMC reported on and submitted videos on the public reaction to the case. link
UhuruNews.org did still further reporting on the case in "More police violence in Philadelphia: Justice for Askia Sabur!" on how Philadelphia's black community demanded justice for him. They summarized the case as: "Askia was a victim of the same terror that we have had to live with for the past 500 years. In one period it was called slavery. Then it was Jim Crow. Today it's Stop and Frisk." link
Philadelphia Mayor Nutter called for community meetings on the case and Bob Shipman wondered "Could Mayor Nutter's Police and Community meetings have backfired?" link
Philadelphia Criminal Law News reported in December that some of the charges against Askia Sabur had been dropped.
(8) Gaming Board Gives Philadelphia A Victory, Revokes Foxwoods’ License
Dan Hajdo of Casino-Free Philadelphia reported on the December 2010 victory over Foxwoods. Foxwoods has had their SugarHouse Casino on the waterfront cut back in size and now they're down to just one casino, they can't now build a second one. Outgoing Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell concedes that "one Philly casino may be enough." link
(7) How Well Do You Know Your State?
Pennsylvania From Below reported on the The Keystone Opportunity Zone program, a program for offering tax breaks to encourage businesses to locate here. Unfortunately (PDF) "With regard to job creation and capital investment, we found that many KOZ participants are providing little, if any, job creation or capital investment in return for the KOZ tax abatement and exemption benefits they receive." The piece also looks at the process of "fracking," a form of fossil fuel extraction documented in the film Gasland. The PAFromBelow website is currently reporting on these and other local issues. link
(6) New Video: Philly UNITE HERE Members Hold Vigil for Hyatt 100
Josh Eidelson of Philly UNITE HERE reported on a rally for the Hyatt 100. Hyatt fired 100 housekeepers from their three Boston area hotels after asking the workers to train their replacements from an outsourcing agency. The webpage at Hotel Rising! indicates that the issue remains unresolved. link
(5) Port Richmond Philadelphia Community Rallies Against Police Officer in Fatal Shooting
John Kalwaic of Worker Freedom reported on the protests by the working class neighborhood of Port Richmond concerning Billy Panas, Jr., a 21-year-old man who was shot and killed by an off-duty Philadelphia police officer. The story was updated in Philadelphia Neighborhoods. link
(4) Prisoners Beaten, Shackled and Starved in SCI Dallas Prison
The Human Rights Coalition put together a report on conditions for prisoners in SCI-Dallas prison in Dallas, PA. In the report published by PhillyIMC, they then documented the retaliation carried out by prison guards. Unfortunately, the website that featured the report doesn't appear to have been updated for several months and there are lots of broken links. Alternet did a report on a particular prisoner at SCI-Dallas a few months later. link
(3) Local Activists Discuss Strategies for Reviving Opposition
Jim Grilli of the group Philly Against War reported in July of a meeting between several Philadelphia anti-war groups and how they intended to carry their cause forward. National anti-war groups and their proposals were also mentioned. The participants agreed that "convincing the unconvinced, that appeared to be viewed as crucial for the revival of the national antiwar movement." It was clear that there were lots of difference in detail between participants and that these were mostly reflected in ultimate, long-range goals. The United National Antiwar Committee has called for protests on April 9th in New York and San Francisco. Organizations are now signing up to endorse the marches. link
(2) Despite storm, “Mothers March Globally” for recognition of work, protest Phila DHS
Mary Kalyna of the Crossroads Women’s Center submitted a piece about how "Pouring rain and high winds" failed to stop, or to even dampen the spirits of, 50 men and women who had gathered to "protest the lack of recognition and support for mothering." The crowd was especially moved by a documentary, “DHS: Give Us Back Our Children!” that had been shown to them earlier. The local channel of Fox News reported in early January 2011 on the recent starvation death of a 2-month-old boy while he and his family had been staying at a West Philadelphia shelter, indicating that there remain ongoing problems with DHS. link
Here's the piece that announced the above upcoming protest.
(1) Coverage of Mumia Abu-Jamal's case
Back in January, PhillyIMC published a piece by the group Journalists For Mumia. This is a good example of what we mean by "newsitorials," or news pieces that take a strong editorial point of view. The piece examined the Philadelphia DA's request to have Mumia Abu-Jamal executed without a new sentencing hearing. After explaining the issue and providing links to more tradtional media outlets' descriptions, the piece described petitioning actions the citizens could take to assist Abu-Jamal in his case. link
Dave Lindorff, who is the blogger at ThisCantBeHappening.net, reported on Mumia with "The Politics of Death: Throwing Mumia Abu-Jamal Under the Bus." Lindorff details on how the "Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), an organization representing some 35,000 police officers in the US that advocates the execution of Abu-Jamal and all other prisoners convicted of killing of police officers" has written a memo announcing a boycott of anyone who aids Mumia's case, along with anyone in similar circumstances. link
Hans Bennett of PhillyIMC and Michael Schiffmann (www.abu-jamal-news.com) wrote "Media Justice On Trial In Philadelphia -- The duel of two films about Mumia Abu-Jamal" about the film by Tigre Hill, The Barrel of a Gun. "In response, Journalists for Mumia has just published the latest issue of our newspaper (viewable here), where we confront Tigre Hill by laying out evidence of innocence and why Mumia’s trial was unfair." Also, the pro-Mumia film Justice On Trial: The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal was released. link
The Defenestrator gave us the latest updates on Mumia's case in November 2010.
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